It Takes Two (PS5, XBS, PS4, XB1, PC) Review

As we approach the end of the month and are smack-dab in the middle of a holiday weekend at least here in the States, SuperPhillip Central has two more reviews to round out May. Our first is a game which has a name that isn't just there to be cute. No, It Takes Two literally requires two players in this awesomely creative and fun co-operative game. Here is the SPC review, which unlike this game, just took one person to complete.

Double the co-operative trouble

Hazelight Studios continues to be one of the best developers under the Electronic Arts umbrella (though that isn't to lessen my opinion of any other dev). Its last game, A Way Out, offered a unique co-operative hook to it, and now its next game picks up with that title left off with another co-operative game, though of a more cozy and quaint feel. It Takes Two is a more heartwarming at times, other times not so much title that brings a cavalcade of gameplay styles and ingenious co-op scenarios that work much more than they don't. It makes for a game that offers one of the most enjoyable and amusing co-operative experiences I've had the pleasure of playing in ages. 

It Takes Two is a tale that deals with a potentially dicey and touchy subject: that of divorce. It stars two parents named May and Cody, and their child Rose. When Rose gets the word that their parents have decided to separate, Rose takes two dolls crafted to resemble her parents, and begins to cry onto them. This results in some sort of magical, fantastical reaction where May and Cody end up taking on the traits of and turning into the dolls. "Helped" by a magical talking book--and I do need to put "helped" in quotations, at least at the start of the game--the two need to figure out how to work together--collaborate--and get out of their current scaled-down predicament and discover a way to return to their real bodies.

One of my major criticisms with It Takes Two is that the game suffers from a bit of tonal whiplash. One moment it's extremely tender and charming, something appropriate for children and young adults, really, but then the dialogue will throw in crude humor or a bunch of curse words. By no means am I Tipper Gore, exclaiming "what about the children!" but it's just unneeded, really. Further, there are certain moments in It Takes Two that certainly shows a lot to dislike about both main playable characters. It's perfectly fine to show them as having flaws, but it gets to the point where both become quite detestable, plotting and doing things in the game that seem incredibly heartless, especially to the feelings of their own daughter. So, when the two eventually do start working together and getting along more, it doesn't really feel natural or that earned. Still, it's a charming game for the most part, and has a story and writing that usually hits more than it misses. It's just that when it misses, it whiffs completely and was a tremendous turn-off for me.

One main thing to get out of the way immediately is that It Takes Two is a co-op only game. There is no way to feasibly play it alone, so if you're a lone wolf who enjoys playing games by themselves and solely by themselves, then you're not going to get any mileage out of this game. A shame, for sure, as It Takes Two is one of the most creative, entertaining, and innovative titles of the year. However, fear not if you feel you actually want to play It Takes Two but perhaps don't have any online friends to play it with. 

Explore and survive in fantastical worlds as the friction-filled couple: May and Cody.

For one, each purchased copy of the game comes with a Friend Pass, which can be gifted to another online player, so you can either give the pass to another online buddy or make a new online buddy in the process via that free pass. Now, players who use the Friend Pass cannot earn achievements or trophies, which might be a sticking point to them. Otherwise, both players should have a copy of the game if achievements and trophies are important to them and their playing experience. Other than online play, local co-operative multiplayer is also available in It Takes Two, and this was my preferred way of playing. It was reminiscent of playing games as a child with my older brother, and that's exactly who I played It Takes Two with, though the jokes and banter that we riffed one another while playing was more adult this time around, certainly!

It Takes Two's main characteristic is that of a 3D platformer. May and Cody have the ability to jump, double jump, dash forward--either on the ground or in midair--to evade attacks and other hazards, run, and even swing along special hooks and grind on rails Sonic the Hedgehog-style. Sometimes in It Takes Two May and Cody will find themselves inside a hub-like area, an interconnected large-scaled room with plenty of exploration to be found. Inside will occasionally be entertaining competitive mini-games to be discovered, such as a tug-of-war, a game of chess, volleyball, or target practice, or a race of some type. Other than mini-games that are sprinkled throughout the seven chapters of the game, you'll find a plethora of interesting sights to interact with. Some of these are hidden well and unlock various achievements and trophies for accessing them, so there's plenty of replay value and discovery to achieve in It Takes Two.

As for the seven chapters in It Takes Two, well, perhaps the best phrase to utter for this is "oh, the places you'll go!" May and Cody begin the game in their home's outdoor shed, and eventually must make their way to their home to attempt to make contact with their daughter. They'll be thrust through all sorts of scenarios and places, from entering a gigantic tree to being transported inside a snow-bound land which just happens to be a magical snow globe. Thus, you really feel like you've been put through the ringer and having been through a grand adventure by the end of It Takes Two. Heck, even midway through the game you'll feel like you've been through a grand adventure, only soon realizing that you're hardly halfway done in the game's 10 to 15 hour runtime.

Puzzles like this, platforming challenges, and more await our pair of protagonists in It Takes Two.

It Takes Two, as Dr. Hakim, the Book of Love himself would utter, is all about collaboration. As the phrase goes, it takes two to tango... and play through the game... and survive... and so on and so forth. Everything in the game requires both players to communicate, collaborate, and work together to progress. Generally, both players work together in the same space, but there are multiple occurrences in the game where May and Cody are split up, requiring them to use their current tools or skill sets from afar to help the other player progress.

On many occasions, the co-operative aspect of It Takes Two features an asymmetrical brand of gameplay. This is most prominent when the two receive various tools from Dr. Hakim. One early chapter features Cody brandishing a cannon that launches a golden gel that when May fires upon it will explode, thus destroying obstacles and enemies in their way. Another chapter gives May gravity-defying boots to run up specially marked walls and ramps, while giving Cody a special belt that allows him to change size at will, from teeny tiny to massive in scale. Both of these tools interact with the environment to help players work together to solve puzzles in quite ingenious ways.

With these two asymmetrical tools, Cody fires off a gel and May blasts it to create an explosive result!

What makes It Takes Two so wonderful and brilliantly executed is that there is no shortage of gameplay styles experienced throughout the game. The mainstay of the 3D platformer is always present, but the game loves to throw in alternate styles to keep things fresh--this also happens constantly. One might find concern with this because usually when a game provides so many different gameplay types it becomes a "jack of all trades, master of none" situation, but that surprisingly couldn't be further from the truth in It Takes Two! Each gameplay mechanic introduced throughout the game could pretty much be iterated on further to make a full game just from that mechanic. 

I've heard of "Dog Day Afternoon" but is this more of a... "Frog Day Afternoon"?

These scenarios are so expertly executed and fun to play in, whether piloting a plane where one player controls its flight while the other mans a turret, controlling a "boat" (in actuality, a lid of a barrel) through water rapids as one moves around the boat to push it forward and the other defeats explosive larvae swimming in the way, or engaging in an adorable and literal ode to dungeon-crawlers like Diablo as one player assumes the role of a wizard and the other a knight to do battle in a top-down isometric perspective area. Regardless of the scenario, each simply works and feels great to play. And if for some reason you ever grow tired, bored, or even annoyed with a specific gameplay instance or mechanic, you won't ever have to wait long for it to be cycled out and replaced with something new. 

Cody serves on point as a cactus turret while May can get more up, close and personal with these foes.

The puzzles in It Takes Two, as you may have guessed already, also require plenty of communication and collaboration to solve them. Puzzles are plentiful in the game, and these offer myriad opportunities for players to test their teamwork, mash their mental muscles together, and end up with a hopefully satisfying solution and result. While none of these puzzles exactly perplexed my older brother I too terribly much, there were a select handful that had us scratching our heads, wondering what to do. However, even if an obvious solution evaded us immediately, we found ourselves enjoying bouncing ideas and possible solutions off of one another, until finally reaching what the game intended the two of us to do. These "a-ha" moments totally reward both players, and coming to a solution through both of us working out a problem together is really one of the most rewarding parts of the game and one of the most rewarding things either of us had done together in a game in a looong time. That's a mighty big compliment to you, It Takes Two.

This goes for the boss battles as well, which always required the two of us to work together and perform different tasks to take down each colossal creature and fearsome foe that was placed in our paths. Really, bosses were something my older brother and I looked forward to immensely, as these encounters were exceedingly creative, more so than the last. Much like the adventure itself, each battle raised the stakes and the level of creativity exponentially. 

The boss battles in It Takes Two are certainly the bee's knees--excellent and awesome!

It Takes Two is a gorgeous, gorgeous-looking game. The various worlds and areas are extremely detailed with lots of places to take a break and admire the scenery and amount of love and care put into the game. Sometimes all of this detail can be a negative thing, with the consequence of some obvious slow-down and frame-rate issues that occasionally rear their nasty head into the game, at least in my gameplay experience on the base PlayStation 4. However, these generally were rare. The voice acting and music are absolutely delightful, and while I would make a point that the two parents are somewhat detestable as characters (and parents at least when they're in doll form), their banter is rather well done and entertaining.

By the end of our 15 hours with It Takes Two, my brother and I found ourselves pretty much of the same opinion. We both enjoyed the excellent gameplay variety and how Hazelight Studio nailed each and every one of the gameplay mechanics and ideas presented throughout the game. We felt we had been on a massive and rewarding adventure, but also agreed that the tone of the game was all over the place--and to a detriment to the overall feel of It Takes Two. Control-wise, we both never felt out of sorts, and even the camera--a usual sticking point for so many games of this type--seldom caused us issues. And even if it did, deaths always brought us back to nearby checkpoint which meant that never was there a time where we lost a lot of progress. Ultimately, It Takes Two is a brilliantly and exceedingly creative adventure with myriad well executed gameplay styles, occasional tonal whiplash and frame-rate issues, but at the end of the day is one of the absolute best and most fun co-op gaming experiences I have ever had.

[SPC Says: A-]

Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville - Complete Edition (NSW) Review

Before the month of March escapes us completely, SuperPhillip Central has one more new review to share with everyone on this eve of April. It's for a recent release--at least on the Nintendo Switch--Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville - Complete Edition. Check out why I wholeheartedly recommend this port with the SPC review.

Grow big or go home

The Nintendo Switch isn't any stranger to third-party games releasing later (or late) after their original launches. In fact, it's quite routine. However, occasionally a case presents itself where the wait for a particular game becomes very much worthwhile, either due to functioning well on the Switch or coming packed with a bevy of content. In the case of Electronic Arts and Popcap's Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville, it's a combination of both of these attributes, offering one impressive, feature-rich, content-heavy port that may be late to the party, but delivers an incredible amount of fun for all ages.

Part of the reason for Battle for Neighborville being so wonderful on the Switch is that pretty much everything can be access, earned, and played offline. I threw in the "pretty much" part, as only daily, weekly, and character-specific challenges are inaccessible offline without a Nintendo Switch Online subscription. These challenges award Prize Bulbs and costume pieces that the former allows you to unlock Prize Map rewards more quickly, while the latter grants you character costume pieces for completing character-specific challenges. Everything else on offer in Plants vs. Zombies' debut on the Nintendo Switch is all available offline.

Outfit your character your way with a copious abundance of cosmetics, all earned via in-game currency. (No MTXs!)

This includes multiplayer--which includes play against bots. That said, the absence of split-screen multiplayer is a tremendous bummer, but understandable as it was removed from the Switch version to allow the game to run as admirably as it does on Nintendo's hybrid hardware. The Switch port giveth and the Switch port taketh away! Still, playing offline against bots, which allows you to select what character classes are allowed and what difficulty they are set to, makes for an enjoyable time. It also presents a bit of future-proofing to the game for when the online community inevitably dries up. However, at the time of this review (and this review was published two weeks after the initial Switch release), online is thriving with players, and I've seldom--if ever--have had to wait to enter into a match. 

With the Scientist's weapon firing, the juice is loose!

That said, I do have an issue with the online lobbies. Currently, you can group up with up to three other friends for a four friend group. However, you can NOT enter into a private match with them to play against bots. This is more a circumstantial and personal problem on my end, but with a friend of mine who is relatively new and inexperienced with gaming, it would have been nice to be able to play together in a safer setting against casual difficulty bots and thrust him into competitive online against strangers and random players of varying skill levels. A small gripe I have with the game, but I hope it's somehow touched upon by the development team and corrected.

Reach for the sky pard'ner. Sheriff Citron is in town.

The multiplayer, whether offline or on, features a multitude of modes and a series of maps across them. There is a simple team deathmatch-style mode, though named a much more family-friendly Team Vanquish, as well as a mode where teams compete to control three stations. The more stations your team controls, the more points your team earns. Alongside Team Vanquish and this aforementioned area-controlling Suburbination mode, there is an exciting area takeover mode, where one team attempts to strike, controlling one area of a map after another, forcing the other team to take and hopefully make a stand. Then, there's a 4 vs. 4 arena battle where each player gets one life per round. Each character class they select for that round gets crossed out the next round, win or lose, so it's important to not only be comfortable with multiple classes in this mode, but it's also important to accent your teammates' choices of characters as well. Having everyone serve as the healing class is less than a stellar decision, for example!

Outside of multiplayer in a competitive and co-operative sense, Battle for Neighborville brings a solo-focused experience to the fold with four free-roaming maps. One is exclusive to the Plants, one is exclusive to the Zombies, and one is shared between both Plants and Zombies, but they occur at different times of day. Either way, you're going to get upwards of 10 hours with each, as they involve completing story-based quests, battling bosses, discovering and opening treasure chests, uncovering Golden Gnomes and the ultra-rare and usually puzzle or combat-oriented Platinum Gnomes, and completing a variety of achievement-like tasks that reward Medals for accomplishing them. To further add to the fun--and I definitely found a lot of fun with the four campaigns--there are bounty battles to take on, where you engage with themed "gimmick"-based bosses, as well as Ops missions where you guard a position against five waves of increasingly more difficult opposition forces. Some maps are more enjoyable than others, and the lack of a fast travel option means you'll be trekking through familiar sights (and sites) repeatedly. Still, a great amount of content is available in these four maps.

There may be too many encounters while roaming the four maps of Battle for Neighborville's
 campaigns, but when they're this enjoyable, it's a small price to pay.

I've spoken at long length already about the content inside Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville - Complete Edition--and do I have more to cover--but what of the actual Plants and Zombies that are versus-ing one another? (Ew. There wasn't any elegance in THAT wording!) Each member of the Plant and Zombie teams has a main attack as well as three special attacks/abilities. The latter require a cooldown in order to use again with more powerful attacks and useful abilities requiring a longer cooling down period. From Peashooter's ability to turn plant its roots firmly into the ground to become a stationary turret, to All-Star's ability to produce a protective red dome that serves to temporarily shield itself and others from projectiles, it's important to learn each character class' abilities. Fortunately, it's quite enjoyable to do so. 

All-Star's showing everyone that while there is no "I" in "TEAM", 
there is certainly an "I" in "VANQUISH".

Alternately, each character class has its own strengths and weaknesses. The Sunflower on the Plants side and the Scientist on the Zombies side serve as the healing class, perfect for protecting others with added health in a pinch, but their attack capabilities aren't the strongest. Meanwhile, attack-proficient characters like Kernel Corn and 80's Action Hero on the Plant and Zombie sides respectively deal great damage, but their maximum health levels are on the lower side. For the most part, each class of characters seems balanced well enough, and it makes for matches and moment-to-moment gameplay that keeps things fresh--more importantly on a personal note, it kept me coming back for more.

Characters level up with experience earned through a multitude of methods and ways. After every ten levels earned, they stop earning experience and must be promoted. This promotion serves a twofold purpose as to gain new perks as well as allow them to resume leveling up, though starting from level 1 again. It can be a bit of a pain to have to return to the hub to promote a character, as again, they don't earn any more experience once they hit the maximum of level 10. It's pretty much wasted experience on them if you continue to play as that character without giving them a proper promotion. 

If only receiving a promotion was as easy to get in real life! (Sigh...)

The hub itself, Giddy Park, serves as one-stop spot for all kinds of actions and activities. For one, you access the four campaigns and multiplayer from this hub. There is of course the place to promote characters, like I mentioned already, but there is also a shop that stocks different goods like costume pieces, costume sets, character gestures, plaques that are displayed on another player's screen when you vanquish them, and so forth. Additionally, there is a place to spend Prize Bulbs, a capsule machine that you can spend coins earned through regular play to earn various cosmetics at random (unlike the other previously released versions of this game, there are NO microtransactions to speak of), and a central area that separates the Plants and Zombies that allows some practice of vanquishing players or bots. 

By the 80's Action Heroes' rockets' red (technically, orange) glare,
these foes feel pummeling pain with each blast and burst.

Battle for Neighborville is the first Frostbite Engine game (Electronic Arts' own graphical engine framework) to launch on the Nintendo Switch, which is exciting in and of itself for what future support from EA may hold. Regardless, it also serves as exciting because the engine really runs rather well on Nintendo's hardware. Whether docked or in handheld form, the game runs at 30 FPS, though the latter offers a blurrier look to it. Additionally, the frame-rate is not entirely stable with some noticeable drops when the action gets hot and especially heated. Still, it's amazing to see a Frostbite Engine game from EA running on the Switch, and doing so in a mostly impressive way.

Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville - Complete Edition was my first foray with anything in the Plants vs. Zombies series. Between the nearly endlessly entertaining multiplayer--that with bots means the fun will continue long after what currently is a sizable online community eventually diminishes--and the amazing amount of single player options available, whether free-roaming adventure maps or offline modes, I played a heck of a lot more than I expected I would (and I'm hardly done yet). It's only been out for just under two weeks and already I've put over 50 hours into the game with most of my time being dedicated to offline pursuits. Having a full game available online or off, no microtransactions, and plenty of content to enjoy, EA and Popcap definitely didn't pull the wool over Switch owners' eyes with its "Complete" in Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville's Complete Edition branding. It was a question of growing big or going home, and Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville on the Nintendo Switch without question grows big, warts and all.

[SPC Says: B+]

Titanfall 2 (PS4, XB1, PC) Review

Fresh off the heels of Yoshi's friendly relationship with Poochy comes a different kind of friendship: one between human and titan in Titanfall 2. The game has been out for several months, but now it's SuperPhillip Central's chance to cast a verdict. 

Clash of the Titans

The original Titanfall was an impressive beast of a multiplayer game that unfortunately suffered due to corporate politics-- in particular, Microsoft getting an exclusive deal from EA, making the original exclusive to the Xbox brand. However, now Titanfall 2 is a brand-new entity, no longer just stuck to Xbox, supporting an improved multiplayer package that will keep players coming back for more, as well as something completely new-- a single-player campaign. Thankfully, both the multiplayer and the all-new single-player campaign make Titanfall 2 one of the most impressive first-person shooters on the market today.

The campaign features the story of a relatively inexperienced rifleman named Jack Cooper who gets the honor of being mentored and trained by one of the most notable titan pilots in the military force opposing the evil IMC. When his mentor gets taken out in battle, in his last moments he relinquishes control of his titan, BT, over to Jack. Throughout the game, Jack and BT establish a rapport. Some humor even comes about in Titanfall 2's campaign which is a nice change of pace compared to all of these modern shooters, particularly military ones, that take themselves way too seriously. There will be moments where Jack will say a turn of phrase, such as after a particularly fierce battle on Typhoon where he says he's on a hot streak. BT, the dry sentient being it is becomes confused by this, saying that Jack's body temperature is perfectly normal. These small moments give the campaign some character, and I found myself enjoying them even when I didn't really care about the overarching story.

The moment in Titanfall 2's campaign where Rifleman Jack Cooper and BT first meet.

The campaign itself isn't that long to experience (taking anywhere between 5-7 hours the first time through with optional collectibles to find), but at the same token, it doesn't outwear its welcome... well, for the most part. I must say that something that does outwear its welcome are the scenes within the game that have you unable to speed through dialogue or a particular story sequence. They have you either stuck in a static position able to look around, or have you able to move around while the story sequence unfolds. These happen all too often throughout the campaign. They're fine the first time through, but on repeated play-throughs they just become tedious.

However, that issue is the only big problem with Titanfall 2's campaign. They're sort of worth it in an essence because what you get to do in the campaign is a lot of fun. This is due to the level of mobility that Jack has a pilot. In the campaign, you start off learning the basics of wall-running-- dashing forward, jumping at a wall at an angle, and then rushing along the wall to jump to the other side of a chasm, for instance. By the end of the game, you're expected to leap from wall to wall, dodging hazards, and taking out foes during your feats of acrobatic excellence.

The movement possibilities in Titanfall 2 make for multiple layers of available strategy.

A fantastic part of Titanfall 2 is how the developers constantly throw new mechanics and things into the campaign to keep things from growing stale. One level has you riding through a factory of sorts that manufactures houses. You ride on platforms to designated stops where enemies await to ambush you. Then, you hop onto the next platform to another stop. This process repeats itself until the platforms form full houses, taking you deeper inside the facility. Another notable part of the campaign has you using a specific tool to activate mechanisms that open doors as well as move platforms into position for you. There's one section where you need to activate platforms in midair to move them in position to either run or wall-run on them. If you're too slow in doing so, your "reward" is falling into the abyss below.

A late mission in Titanfall 2's campaign has you bringing the fight to the enemy while in BT.

Thankfully, Titanfall 2 is quite generous with its checkpoints. Seldom will death ever mean you have to redo a significant portion of a level. Instead, it usually means you just have to start your current firefight or platforming section over again.

Besides running around levels as Jack Cooper, there are many times where you'll be piloting his titan BT. You always have the ability to dismount and mount into BT during any occasion, but in battles against other titans, you probably don't want to take them on solely as Jack. During the campaign, BT acquires new loadouts that can be cycled through with the press of the right direction on the D-Pad. These range from loadouts where BT's primary weapon is a machine gun, one where he can lock onto enemies and fire homing missiles at them, and also one where BT can launch a ball of fire to create an eruption on the ground to slowly but steadily deal damage to foes. Each loadout has several offensive and defensive abilities to it, and some are more useful than others.

Talk to the hand because the chassis don't understand.

Other than taking on typical enemy titans, in specific parts of Titanfall 2's campaign, Jack and BT will face off against a boss titan, a member of a mercenary group that is serving the IMC for the good of their wallets. Each encounter begins with a quick introduction of the merc opening its titan's cockpit hatch to reveal themselves to Jack and BT and give each some semblance of character before the battle begins. Each encounter takes longer than a typical enemy titan would as they have bigger health bars, but overall they're almost just as easy to dispatch as any other titan. The real takeaway from each boss titan is their personality and design, which is unfortunate.

While you will most likely enjoy Titanfall 2's campaign, the part of the game you'll be returning to again and again long after finishing off the story is the multiplayer. The original Titanfall suffered from a lack of mode variety. Fortunately, Respawn took the criticism from players to heart, giving Titanfall 2 a multitude of modes and lots of variety in them.

One of the best things I love about Titanfall 2's multiplayer other than how fast it is to get back into battle after dying is that the movement found in the single-player campaign is just as wonderful in the multiplayer. It's a blast to chain jumps together, sprint, and slide through maps to discover the best routes to get back into the action or to temporarily retreat. There is a tremendous amount of skill found in doing this.

Another terrific part of Titanfall 2 is how the game balance has been altered from the original's multiplayer, and it has been altered for the better. One means to balance Titanfall 2's multiplayer is that titans no longer have the ability to regenerate their shield. You can just take damage and then rush out of the storm of battle to some safe corner of the map to regenerate health. Instead, each shot you take deals permanent damage to your titan. Even a one-man army who strategically picks and chooses his shots can take a titan down with enough patience and skill. This makes it so titans are much more valuable to have and important to keep in battle. Yes, they're powerful machines, but losing them can be the difference between victory and defeat.

Titanfall 2's multiplayer features an abundance of modes. The more original of these include Attrition, returning from the original game. This signature mode has eight players on each side taking one another out as well as the occasional AI reinforcements to score points. Titans can be called into battle when specific conditions have been met, making this mode one of the most popular and also one of the most enjoyable. Additionally, there is a brand-new mode in the form of Bounty Hunt. Here, players destroy AI enemies in both humanoid and titan form as they simultaneously take one another out. Kills earn money for each player, which is then banked between waves. Hoarding your money isn't the best strategy, as being defeated by a foe gives half of your money to them. Bounty Hunt is an interesting addition to the Titanfall 2 multiplayer experience.

This won't end well for one of these guys. (Hint: It's the guy lying down.)

The other multiplayer modes in Titanfall 2 basically check the boxes of what is to be expected from any first-person shooter's multiplayer offerings. You have deathmatch in both team and free-for-all varieties, and Titanfall-themed pilots-only and titans-only battle modes. There is plenty to sink one's teeth into in Titanfall 2's multiplayer, and that incentive to play continues with the awards system that constantly earns you experience points that when you reach new levels, gives you new unlockables for use in the multiplayer like new weapons, titan loadouts, cosmetic goods, and much more.

Titanfall 2 greatly improves on the multiplayer foundation created in the original while adding a single-player component that is one of the greatest first-person shooter campaigns in recent memory alongside, of course, DOOM. The constant feed of unlockables and awards in the multiplayer as well as the sheer fun of the mobility options in the game make for a shooter that should keep players coming back for more day after day, and maybe even months from now.

[SPC Says: B+]

Need for Speed: Nitro (Wii) Retro Review

Sunday is this week's kickoff of SuperPhillip Central content, and with it we see a retro review. The announcement of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe to the Nintendo Switch saw the site developing a vested interest in arcade racing games. Last week, we took a look at Pac-Man World Rally, a kart racer. Now, we look at a different kind of racer with this retro review of the Wii version of Need for Speed: Nitro.

Stylistic street racing meets the Wii with great results.

With its lack of power compared to the HD twins, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, third party developers were tasked with creating different versions of their popular franchises for Nintendo's Wii hardware. Some of these experiments turned out horribly, but others turned out quite well. Such was the case with the Need for Speed franchise. Instead of focusing on realism, Need for Speed: Nitro focused on stylistic arcade action, making for a racing game that burned some serious rubber.

Career mode offers the most satisfying experience for solo players, delivering three classes of cars, each with their own challenges, around five world cities like Rio, Dubai, and Singapore. Each city possesses a selection of challenges in them ranging from traditional circuit races against the AI, elimination racers where after every 30 seconds the racer in last gets eliminated until there is one car left, time trials, drift challenges, and special traffic camera challenges where the goal is to drive as fast as possible through speed traps. All races have stars to earn, and these unlock even more Career mode events as well as new customization parts for your rides. The circuit and elimination races have up to five stars to earn (three for placement in races, one for beating a race's best lap time, and one for earning enough style points through drifting, drafting other racers, boosting, and "owning it" or remaining in first place). 

Races in Need for Speed: Nitro are adrenaline-inducing experiences.

"Owning It" not only gives you a good amount of style points, but it paints the track and environments in your car's color as well as emblem for an amazing and astoundingly cool effect. It gives incentive to stay in first place as well as allowing you to brag to your friends when competing in multiplayer, which unfortunately never received online play of any kind. Though, a silver lining is that you can play the Career mode with up to three other friends, which makes it a lot more exciting than it already is.

The five cities in Need for Speed: Nitro each feature two tracks apiece. These have you drifting through long turns, speeding through the city streets, and many have notable standout moments such as riding along the tops of shipping yard containers for a shortcut, launching from a ramp into a construction site, and passing through parking garages. Each track usually sports up to two shortcuts, and these are marked on the map on the side of the screen, and each lap generally takes about a minute to complete. Despite the decent track variety, you might grow sick of racing on the same ten tracks since the Career mode's plentiful challenges make you race on them ad nauseum. 

The various locales and tracks to race on are highly varied.

It wouldn't be a Need for Speed game without some police chasing down your naughty street racing self, and the boys in blue are certainly up to the challenge in Need for Speed: Nitro. Many races have police cruisers that chase after racers disobeying the rules of the road. A new twist here is the ability to drive through badge pickups which allow you to stick the cops on an opposing racer, or if you're in first place, it allows you to draw less heat to yourself. With a five star warning on you, cops can become insanely aggressive, running directly into you, plowing you into a wall, and can stall your progress immediately due to their large Hummer-like cruisers. This can be very frustrating during certain races. 

In addition to badge pickups, there are also wrench ones that automatically repair your vehicle. As your vehicle takes damage from other racers, the police, or through mistakenly running into traffic or crashing into walls, the available space in your nitro boost bar will lessen. At maximum damage, not only will you not be able to pull off a nitro boost, but your car's max speed will be limited, so always being on the look out for repair pickups is paramount to winning later, more difficult races.

There's no such thing as sunshine slowdown in this rush hour.

Need for Speed: Nitro sports an impressive array of customizable vehicles, over 30 licensed vehicles in all, from Ford to Chevy. The amount of customization is appreciated, allowing you to alter the color of your car through one of dozens of different color combinations as well as spraying the car with various pre-made emblems or your own custom one. It adds a degree of creativity and a personal touch to your vehicle, which is really cool. Each vehicle has its own set of stats in categories like speed, acceleration, drifting, handling, and defense, and in Career mode, you earn money to buy new vehicles to add to your garage.

Nitro also sports a wide amount of available control options, such as the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, the Wii Wheel or Wii Remote by itself for motion-controlled driving (fun for easier races, but not as precise as necessary for harder ones), and the GameCube controller. Perhaps the most novel one is the ability to play with the Wii Remote in one hand, twisting the remote to make turns. 

Of course, all the control options in the world don't matter if Need for Speed: Nitro's cars all handled poorly. Thankfully, this is far from the case. Nitro's cars feel sensational to control, offering precise turning, cornering, and handling. Drifting is next to effortless, just require the player to hold down a button while turning the car. The only real problem with drifting is that the button to do so is the same as braking. If you're going below a certain speed, your car will brake instead of entering into a drift, which can quite the frustration in a heated race. 

Drifting feels smooth, though if you're not driving fast enough, you can enter into a brake instead.

As stated, the Wii is obviously much weaker hardware when compared to both its competitors at the time, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Because of this, instead of going for a realistic approach to the visuals, EA went for a stylized one. Cars and characters have a fantastical degree to them, sporting a cartoon-like art style that isn't nearly as serious as the HD twins' version of Need for Speed. This is actually pretty pleasant to the eye, mixing realism and highly stylized art to tremendous effect. The game also runs at a steady clip, so feel free to feel your need for speed to the fullest. On the sound side, you get a funky and rock-filled soundtrack of licensed music. There are about ten songs total, and they cycle through enough so you don't get bored of them too quickly.

Feeling the need for speed along the Dubai coast.

Need for Speed: Nitro is an underrated arcade racer to add to the lineup of wonderful Wii games. It might not have had the online of Mario Kart Wii or ExciteBots: Trick Racing, but it does still have superb arcade handling and gameplay, stellar stylized visuals, and enough content to keep those with a need for speed coming back for more.

[SPC Says: B]

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger (PS2, GCN, XBX) Retro Review

The retro reviews keep pouring in thanks to El Nino! Okay, maybe it's not because of that, but it sure is raining cats and dogs here where I am in the Midwest. Christmas 2015 may be a memory, but I'm still in the mood to deliver some goodness to you good boys and girls. Heck, I'll even deliver some goodness to you evil boys and girls, too. 

This next retro review is for a 3D platformer that I missed out on when it originally released. It's Ty the Tasmanian Tiger for the PlayStation 2, GameCube, and Xbox. 

That's a mad ripper, mate!

My favorite genre in gaming is the platformer. Whether 2D or 3D, if done right, they feed my need for colorful worlds, tricky jump and run challenges, precision jumping, and collecting. What was once a type of game that you couldn't avoid unless you were stranded on a desert island, the platformer is pretty much only served by independent developers now. However, back in the early 2000's and many years prior to that, the 3D platformer scene was bustling, hopping, and bopping along. Many platforming franchises grew from that era of gaming, and one of these was Krome Studios' Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. With a wonderful personality, fun to explore worlds, and precision platforming, Ty's freshman outing is as good as a delicious bratwurst on the barbie.

As a game, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger follows the foundation that Super Mario 64 and games released thereafter inspired from same have laid out. In its most distilled essence, Ty feels closer to Naughty Dog's Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy more than it does Super Mario 64. For one, there is a very good sense of humor that permeates throughout the game that stretches from the computer-generated cutscenes to the banter between characters in levels. Another way Ty the Tasmanian Tiger reminds me of Jak and Daxter is that there are many smaller collectibles to gather known as opals, much like Jak had precursor orbs to nab. Finally, hitting the select button brings up a list of objectives to find and collect the Power Cell equivalent in Ty the Tasmanian Tiger. Like Jak and Daxter, this list is just a bunch of names that feature nebulous hints on what you need to do to get the main collectible, such as "Drive Me Batty" and "Quicksand Coconuts", for instance.

A little rain is nothing for this Tasmanian tiger.

Being a 3D collect-a-thon like its inspirations, Ty the Tasmanian Tiger has plenty to venture around levels for. In the hub area of the game, Rainbow Cliffs, there are 25 rainbow scales to collect. While this is purely optional, collecting all of them doubles Ty's health gauge. In levels themselves, or at least the ones where you can explore and collect stuff, of which there are nine, the main prize (or the Jak and Daxter Power Cell or Super Mario 64 Power Star equivalent, if you will) is that of Thunder Eggs. 

Keep your eye on the prize, Ty-- a Thunder Egg.

There are eight Thunder Eggs in the nine levels, and you get through a myriad of means. Some are as simply as coming upon them in plain sight or after a platforming challenge of some type. Others revolve around assisting NPCs with certain problems, such as emptying a cave out from the bats that inhabit it, to shooting snowballs from a stationary cannon at enemies that want nothing more than to set fire to trees. Four of the Thunder Eggs are earned through the same types of tasks in each level: collecting 300 opals, rescuing five Bilbies (think of them like the Jinjos that needed to be saved in Banjo-Kazooie), beating a race, and satisfying the requirements of the level's main quest. 

Ty might be a month late to Thanksgiving, but he's
still aiming to catch this turkey regardless.

Of those tasks, the one that really slows the game down to a crawl is searching for 300 opals. While it's completely unnecessary to gather 300 opals in every level, or even any level, for that matter, you'll want to do so for 100% completion. Opals are everywhere in levels, usually strewn about, but sometimes they'll also appear in bundles of five within boxes that can be broken. Still, it's a very tedious task to run around levels that for the most part are too large for their own good and some of which are laid out as a point A to point B affair instead of an expansive area. Having to run from one end of a level all the way to another in a point A to point B fashion gets grating after doing so for the third or fourth time.

Eek! The tables have turned!

With nine main levels of exploration, it's a shame that the last three of those feature borrowed assets from previous levels, a rain forest level also with its own water slide portion, a winter wonderland, and a tropical paradise. Despite this, the levels do possess their own personalities and end up being rather engaging exploring experiences. 

What aren't as engaging are the boss battles. Many times you'll slam your head against a wall wondering what you need to do to take down the boss in question. On many occasions you'll spend time just dodging attacks, pondering things like how do you attack the boss, when is there an opening, and the meaning of life. Okay, that last one might be just me. In any case, aimlessly trying anything to do damage to the bosses is not an enjoyable activity by any stretch of the imagination, and it's a black eye on what is an otherwise well designed game.

There's no time to stop and look at the scenery
when there's a rampaging boar behind you, Ty.

Ty himself does not have a huge series of moves in his repertoire. He can run, he can jump, he can throw his trusty pair of boomerangs, and he can bite foes. Early in the game he learns the ability to use his boomerangs to float, giving him more hang time and making him capable of performing longer jumps. 

Speaking of boomerangs, Ty comes across various different boomerangs that each have their own uses and potentials. Of the dozen different boomerangs to acquire, only a handful of them are story-related, meaning you can go the whole game without getting any of the bonus ones, like boomerangs that explode on contact, boomerangs that hone in on enemies, and boomerangs that can pick off foes from far away like a sniper. These boomerangs are acquired through trading golden cogs to a koala in the hub world of the game. Ten golden cogs are placed in all nine regular levels, making it so Ty can go beast mode, making him have the destructive power of a Tasmanian devil instead of a Tasmanian tiger. 

One of about a dozen different boomerangs Ty can use.
These babies are known as Flamerangs. 

Ty controls well enough for the types of platforming challenges required of him. The controls err more towards the side of imperfection, and by no means holds a candle to genre greats like Mario, Rayman, Banjo-Kazooie, etc. There will also be many times where the camera fusses about like a child who has eaten too much sugar. It will spin when you don't want it to, and you'll find yourself actively fighting the camera to make it turn the way you wish it to turn. While death isn't usually the result of the sometimes mediocre camera, it did result in many missed jumps, especially vexing when I'd have to redo an entire platforming sequence because of the camera's attitude problem. Fortunately, even when death does arrive, a checkpoint (in this case, an outhouse) is never too far away.

Ty the Tasmanian Tiger looks good for a game released in 2002. Worlds are colorful, impressive in size and scope (but as I said, sometimes worlds are too big for their own good), and feature plenty of detail to them, such as smaller bugs wrapping around the walls and surfaces of levels. Character models animate well, and the voice actors that breathe even more life into these characters do their jobs just fine. The music is a high point also, offering catchy and never grating themes that you can't help but to bop your head in rhythm to the music. 

The main thing that I'm most disappointed with Ty the Tasmanian Tiger is myself, as I slept on this enjoyable and entertaining 3D platformer for over 13 years. Now, I can't wait to try the other games in the series-- just after I hunt them down, of course. Although Ty's first outing is far from a masterful debut, it's one that makes me glad I gave the series a chance when I did. Now I ask that you, too, give Ty the Tasmanian Tiger a chance.

[SPC Says: B-]

Star Wars Battlefront (PS4, XONE, PC) Multiplayer Gameplay | E3 2015 “Walker Assault” on Hoth

While this footage definitely contains mass amounts of scripted video, this multiplayer gameplay video of Star Wars Battlefront looks absolutely delightful and full of intense aerial and ground action. From piloting an AT-AT to going it on foot, mowing down storm troopers, Star Wars Battlefront's current generation debut seems to be checking off all of the right boxes.

Mirror’s Edge Catalyst (PS4, XONE) Announcement Trailer

Faith is back, but don't think that this is a sequel! Mirror's Edge Catalyst is a reboot of the series, and it features all the parkour perfection you'd hope to see in a second Mirror's Edge game. This time, it has been confirmed that Faith will not use guns of any kind to ward off her pursuers. I'm game if you are, Faith!

Need for Speed: Most Wanted U (Wii U) Review

This next review is of a game that is fundamentally fantastic gameplay and presentation-wise. If that's the case, then why do I hesitate in recommending Need for Speed: Most Wanted U? Find out with this review.

Do U Have the Need, The Need for Speed?

Need for Speed: Most Wanted released in 2012 for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC. Well, technically the second iteration of Need for Speed: Most Wanted released in 2012, while the original game of the same name but with different content released in 2005. You still following me? Well, no worries. Just know that the Wii U port of the 2012 game released in March of 2013. It was sadly damned from launch thanks to the Wii U port being full retail price while the other versions were already budget price by the time. Throw in the publisher's disinterest in further creating games for the Wii U, and you have a recipe for disaster. That said, the end result of Need for Speed: Most Wanted U is a port from a third-party that smartly uses the Wii U and its features in an intelligent and entertaining way that makes it worth looking into.

Don't mind me. I'm just
soaking in the sun.

Welcome to Fairhaven City. Your objective is very simple: race and win against ten of the most wanted racers in town. That's the limit of the motivation the game provides you with in order to accomplish your task. While some may find that off-putting, I found that Need for Speed: Most Wanted U's simple premise made it so I didn't feel obligated to focus on winning races or anything that like that. It gave me freedom to explore Fairhaven on my terms and whenever I wanted.

Do you mind? I'm trying to change lanes
at a dangerous 109 mph!

Driving through Fairhaven is a lovely experience. You have your downtown and park areas in the center of the map, your industrial areas to the west, and your mountainous region to the north and northeast. There's a wide array of terrain to drive upon, and it makes exploring Fairhaven a fun and variety-filled place to burn rubber in.

If you want, you can just roam freely about Fairhaven without much issue. Of course, speeding an exorbitant amount higher than the posted limit will get the cops on your tail. Then it's a rush to get out of their zone, hide in a less traveled space, and hope to goodness that the po-po (as the kids call it) don't see you, lest you wish to start the pursuit all over again, which isn't that bad considering how fun running from chasing cops is in Most Wanted U.

All a police barricade says to me
is "Time to test the body on this baby."

The Wii U version's Easy Drive function allows you to use the GamePad in a myriad amount of ways. You can turn traffic on and off with the tap of a button, mess with every citizen's mind by changing between day and night on a whim, change cars (though you can still discover jackspots at your leisure-- i.e. places where you can switch between the car parked there and the one you're currently driving instantly), designate the GamePad screen with a helpful map, or make pursuing cops spin out with one push of your finger.

The place on the left is great
for auto repairs (and losing the cops).

With the Easy Drive function, you can also select events immediately rather than drive to its starting destination. Different events earn new parts for your given vehicle, pending on which place you come away with, such as off-road tires, a stronger chassis to ward off crashes, and nitro to boost like a bad mother--watch your mouth.

Change Fairhaven from day to night
with a press of the GamePad's screen.

There's a small selection of different event types to choose from, but what is there tends to be entertaining. Whether you're getting involved with circuit or sprint races, trying to achieve a high maximum average speed along your path to the finish, or trying to lose the boys in blue that want nothing more than to take you in, you earn Speed Points simply for completing them.

Have car, will travel. Have race, will win.

In fact, Speed Points can be earned for doing a lot of things within Fairhaven. Having a lengthy and successful hot pursuit with the Fairhaven P.D. earns points, as does flying though special billboards plastered throughout the town. If you ever wanted to crash through a billboard with EA's pompous and obnoxious little logo on it, as if saying, "Suck my bumper, EA" right to it, then you'll have that chance, finally! There's also speed cameras that record your top speed as you zoom by them, security gates to destroy, and the aforementioned jackspots to uncover.

Take THAT for making Dead Space 3
less horror and more generic!

The really cool part about all of this-- the races, the events, the collectibles-- is that everything is put on a multitude of leaderboards between you and your friends. It's an asynchronous type of multiplayer where you can see your friends' top times and scores on each event and collectible doodad (such as how far you car traveled in the air from a ramp, through a billboard, and onto the ground) and try to outdo their times and stats. It's a miniature competition of sorts, which nets you Speed Points for besting a given friend's time or statistic.

Destroyed billboards will be replaced by
pictures of the Most Wanted in Mii form.

What good are Speed Points for, though? Other than being yet another way to compete with friends without them being online at the same time (but don't worry-- there is online multiplayer to be had), as you earn more and more Speed Points, you get the opportunity to race against one of the Most Wanted. These one-on-one races usually have the police on your tail, trying to ram you off-course and showing little regard to themselves or anyone else for that matter. Once a race has been won (you can challenge any Most Wanted opponent or do over any event you want), your final goal is to shut that racer's car down. A nice takedown is in order in the form of smashing your car into theirs until it can no longer function.

One word of warning with races in particular is that when you're going at such fast speeds, it can be mighty difficult to see what is coming up ahead until it's too late. Be prepared to crash and moan each time your car slams into even the tiniest obstacle until you learn the city and each race's path well. It's especially so since the crash animation seems to mock you with how long it takes to finish.

Get ready to see the word "crashed"
appear a lot more than you might be used to.

Another issue that is far more severe with the Wii U port of Need for Speed: Most Wanted is how the game can occasionally (i.e. more than I would like) freeze the Wii U system into a hard lock, with the only course of action is to unplug the system from the back. Sadly, these very serious freezing issues will never be patched, it seems, due to EA pulling all support from Nintendo's system. It's a shame, as this game would be much easier to recommend were it not for these hard locks.

As mentioned earlier, Need for Speed: Most Wanted U allows for friends and total strangers to ride online and compete or cooperate with one another for some multiplayer mayhem. To be more specific, up to six players can participate in a Speed List, a customized schedule that shows what events players and their rides will be thrust into. Speed Lists can make multiplayer rounds go as long as an hour, so be sure to have the required time to fully enjoy these. Such Speed List events can be king of the hill-type matches, simple races, and so much more. The built-in microphone of the GamePad additionally allows for fun smack talk and cooperative chatter to occur while speeding through Fairhaven.

My eyes... They can't handle all the beauty...

Fairhaven is a spectacular looking city, and the Wii U does it supreme justice. The city's details such as signage, building architecture, and more all are heavily detailed, offering a personality to Fairhaven that few racing games can match. By far, though, the winner here is the gorgeous lighting and the many effects coming from it. Seeing the sunset shine and sparkle off a wet city street is just jaw-dropping in how beautiful it looks. Car models also benefit from looking tried and true to their real-life counterparts. All in all, Need for Speed: Most Wanted U is a fantastic game for the eyes to view.

A game so pretty that you'll want to
make as many Kodak moments as you can.

Outside of the immensely disappointing freezing and hard lock issues tied to the game (which are a big detriment to the overall package for me), Need for Speed: Most Wanted U is what I would consider a definitive version of the original 2012 game. It comes with a lot more features, many of which are entirely optional and don't harm the overall experience if not used. Fairhaven itself is a joy to explore and simply cruise around in, too. What makes the game brilliant, however, is both the simultaneous and asynchronous multiplayer modes that benefit both friendly and unfriendly rivalries online. Need for Speed: Most Wanted U is a fun and fast racing game on a system with next to none to call its own.

[SPC Says: 7.5/10]